Flowers are the stars of the garden. Isn't it nice when they sparkle on trees?

A flowering or ornamental tree can become the seasonal highlight in your garden — a burst of color as welcomed as an old friend.

Ornamentals are typically smaller than other trees, 15 to 30 feet in height, and can be used as centerpieces in small gardens or as understory accents.

You can use a flowering tree as a focal point, to accent your patio, to frame a view, to screen and beautify a fence line or to form the walls of a garden room.

Here are some low-maintenance, decorative options to enjoy:

• Eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis, slips into early spring blooms, often as the first azalea buds open. The pealike blooms hug the branches, creating an irregular, lilac-pink silhouette. Soon the heart-shaped foliage appears. It remains attractive given a fertile, moist, acidic soil with good drainage and sun-to-part sun. Mature height is 25 or more feet.

Our slightly-smaller native Texas redbud, (Cercis canadensis var. texensis), is drought-tolerant and not picky about soil. It smothers its bare branches in rosy purple-pink flowers in February and early March and shows off reddish, flat beans in late summer. The foliage is round and a glossy, dark green. It is a larval food plant for the Henry's elfin butterfly.

Native to the Gulf Coast area, the silverbell matures to 25-30 feet. Plant one in part sun and a well-draining, slightly acidic soil to add charm to your garden.

• Pink orchid tree, Bauhinia purpurea, is no shy bloomer. Well-adapted to Houston's climate, this deciduous tree dresses in highly ornamental, 5- to 6-inch pink-magenta-purple blooms late winter through spring, depending on the winter. The flowers are followed by beanlike seedpods. Collect the seeds and share with friends. The twin-lobed leaves are also interesting.

Give it moist but well-draining, organically enriched soil and a place in sun-to-part sun. Protect the roots with a good layer of mulch in winter. There are other orchid trees.

• Mexican plum, Prunus mexicana, is a 15- to 35-foot broad-crowned native. It sweetens early spring with white blooms that age to pale pink. It flowers about the time redbuds bloom, attracting bees and butterflies. Harvest the small purple plums to make a tasty jelly, or leave them as treats for birds. The trunk bark ages to a blue-gray.

Plant this drought-tolerant tree in sun-to-dappled shade in a well-draining soil.

• Grancy graybeard, Chionanthus virginicus, is as magical as its name. Years ago, the one by my mother's drive was a shaggy wonder. Each spring it was a cloud of fragrant, pendulous white panicles. The fringy blooms are responsible for another common name, fringe tree. Female trees produce blue berries in the fall. This oval-shaped, single- or multitrunked, deciduous native reaches 20-25 feet high.

• Scarlet buckeye, Aesculus pavia, is an underused, potentially 12-foot native for the understory. Tolerant of various soils, moist to dry, it produces beautiful red spring flowers in clusters above the new foliage. It produces a showy but poisonous nut in summer.